Shelter from the elements is a basic human need. Over the years, a number of structures have been developed to satisfy this need. For example, structures such as homes, apartments, condominiums, and the like have been used to effectively provide shelter from the elements. In addition to these immobile structures, mobile structures such as land vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, and the like have also been used to effectively shelter and/or transport people. Many of these structures are used not just to provide shelter but also to provide living quarters.
Ever since people began to use structures as living quarters, there has been an almost universal desire to increase the size and comfort provided by these structures. This is true regardless of whether the structure is mobile or immobile. For immobile structures, this desire is manifest by the continually increasing size of homes, apartments, condominiums, hotels, and the like. In the context of mobile structures, the desire for more space and comfort is manifest by the increased size of land vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, and the like.
The size of immobile structures is often limited by factors such as cost, available real estate in the area, government regulations, and the like. The size of mobile structures is often limited by transportation regulations set by the government (e.g., width of a road vehicle, length of a road vehicle, etc.) and by the physical dimensions of the roads (e.g., width of a travel lane, distance between railroad tracks, height of bridges, etc.) or other medium of transportation (e.g., waterways, etc.). Moreover, building larger structures unnecessarily increases the consumption of valuable resources (e.g., land, steel, wood, etc.). Accordingly, it would be desirable to more effectively utilize the space in structures without increasing the “footprint” of the structures.
One type of vehicle where it is especially desirable to maximize the utility of the interior space is a “toy hauler” type recreational vehicle. A toy hauler is a recreational vehicle having a cargo area used to receive and transport off-road vehicles. Bed lifts have been developed for the cargo area of toy haulers as shown in the '545 patent.
Certain off-road vehicles have trouble fitting under beds lifted by conventional bed lifts. This is especially a problem for side-by-side off-road vehicles such as the Polaris RZR and the like, which have high roll bars. Other off-road vehicles may not be able to fit inside the cargo area because the wheels of the off-road vehicles hit the bed lift components attached to the wall near the floor. The bed lift components can be raised relative to the floor but this also raises the bed making it difficult to get in and out of bed or sit on the bed when it is in a seating configuration.